(02-10-2021, 11:16 AM)omahen Wrote: I don't think there is any pressure on Atlanta. They have all control of the situation.
If they are not prepared to pay him max, they will trade him at TDL. If not, it means they are perfectly willing to pay the max and will match any offer. You could still negotiate a trade but the price would not be lower than at TDL. They will of course try to negotiate for lower than max contract.
I agree that they have control and I stated something similar to your second paragraph in a previous post. However control and pressure are 2 different things.
To me, the pressure comes from the TDL decision and when to make the call to maximize your return (if selling). I personally don’t see them keeping Collins at the max without moving someone else out (which they might do) UNLESS they are willing to go into luxury, which their writers and boards don’t seem to think they are.
The question for them is how much of their cap do they want to allocate toward bigs. They have $100 mil. committed next year, Trae and Hunter on the horizon (Hunter has option year), and $38ish mil already committed to 2 bigs. Are they willing to commit another $27-30 to the big pie with another max on the way (maybe 2). Their boards and some of their writers think they have their big 3 with Trae, Capela, & Hunter.